Quinnen Williams places blame for Cowboys’ defensive struggles on players

Defense was an issue all year for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. They finished the season last in the league with 511 points surrendered and were 30th with 6,409 yards given up.

Their shortcomings have led to calls for change, with Matt Eberflus’ status as defensive coordinator being the focal point. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer plans to take some time to evaluate, but Eberflus being let go feels like a certainty.

MORE: Dallas Cowboys' perfect Matt Eberflus replacement just became available

Not everyone believes Eberflus is the problem, however. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams said regardless of the scheme, it’s up to players to execute when they’re on the field.

“A lot of people kind of put the blame on the coaching all the time,” Williams said during his exit interview.

“Definitely as players, we got to take accountability because we are on the field, and like I always say like, cover three is cover three, and it's been cover three for 50 years. Man's been man like for 50 years. Cover Two has been cover two for 50 years it’s on the players to execute when we're on the field.”

Williams, who was added in a blockbuster trade at deadline this year, played in seven games for Dallas. He recorded 21 tackles and 1.5 sacks, helping improve the run defense. Still, their secondary was brutal and they had very little in the way of a pass rush outside of Jadeveon Clowney.

Matt Eberflus still deserves most of the blame

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus on the field during pregame at AT&T Stadium. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Williams should be commended for sticking up for his coach, but Eberflus is still deserving of much of the blame. Not only did he refuse to switch up his scheme, but after the disastrous season, he said he would have done nothing different.

MORE: Top 4 pending NFL free agents Dallas Cowboys must prioritize

That’s just one of the reasons the right move for the organization is to move on.

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